by Britt Ringel
“No!”
“I’ll pay you.”
The lid on the container nudged open and a filthy woman’s face appeared. “How much?”
“One large,” Kat offered, starting low.
“Two.”
“Done.”
The woman extended a muck-covered hand from the bin, her fingers working rapidly in anticipation. “Gimme, gimme, gimme.”
Kat withdrew the two large from her pocket and perched the coins above the woman’s outstretched hand. “I spend the night unmolested and I leave during the day tomorrow,” she stated.
“You get one corner and one night,” the woman agreed.
Kat dropped the coins into her hand and the woman pushed the trash lid open further. Her head peeked beyond the rim and surveyed the alley suspiciously. “Get in if you’re coming.”
Kat raised her hands to the lip of the bin and was rewarded with a jolt of pain crashing through her side. Her ribs bucked at the simple movement. “I might need some help,” she said.
The woman appraised Kat. “You’re fit. Now get in quickly or the deal’s off.” She kept looking toward the front of the alley nervously.
Kat gritted her teeth and forced her hands to the lip. She tried to lift herself up but could barely manage a few centimeters before becoming overwhelmed with pain. She raised her right leg to the side of the bin, trying to hook her foot on the edge.
The troll in the bin snatched Kat’s ankle and yanked her over the top. Kat screamed in pain as she was pulled over the rim and rolled over the side of the container before crashing down to the floor inside. Her head spun in a kaleidoscope of color and agony. Her breaths came between pain-filled grunts.
“You big baby,” condemned the filthy woman. “That’s your side,” she said while thrusting a shadowy hand to a far corner. The woman lowered herself back to her bottom and leaned against the rear wall.
Kat pushed and dragged herself to the opposite side. The container was foul with an overwhelming odor of sweat and waste. It was immediately clear the woman’s bedroom was also her toilet. As Kat moved and pressed against the muck, she was grateful that the darkness concealed her surroundings. Once she reached a corner, she tried to smooth the refuse underneath her body and settle herself into a less agonizing position.
“One, two, three, four, five… One, two, three, four, five… One, two, three, four, five…” The old woman began to count to herself urgently.
Kat tucked her legs under her body and leaned against the metal wall in pure exhaustion. Soon, she was counting in her head with the crazy woman. She had cycled through the sequence hundreds of times before fatigue and weakness conquered her.
Chapter 29
Rays of sunlight streamed through the narrow gap between the trash container and its cover. Kat’s eyes opened lazily and she stared in confusion at her murky surroundings. She was sitting in a pile of garbage. A jolt of panic rushed through her when she realized it was well past dawn. I slept through my watch alarm. I’ve missed work! The terrifying memories from the past night washed over her and she anxiously groped for her satchel. Its strap was still over her shoulder, the bag resting by her side. Kat opened the top and felt for its contents. Everything seemed to be there.
She attempted to stand but her back and ribs protested against her ambition. After rising only a few centimeters, she slowly, tentatively lowered herself back to the floor. She tried to stretch her back gingerly by pressing against the metal wall of the trash bin. When the stabbing pain diminished somewhat, she took a more cautious approach to standing.
The trash lid easily pushed open and the light that flooded in forced Kat to shield her eyes. The sun was high overhead. She looked down to her watch and discovered it was past noon. There was considerable foot traffic on the Strip although her new alley seemed deserted. Even her landlord was missing. Kat walked over to a heap of refuse inside the container and used it as a stepstool. It was far easier exiting the container than it had been to enter it.
After she slowly eased herself to the ground, Kat pressed her fingers to her ribs. They were extremely tender but she felt no protrusions or depressions along the bones. She fished out her second packet of pain pills and swallowed them dry. They’re going to knock me out again but I can’t make it through the day with this kind of pain. She moved to the end of the alley and looked down the Strip. Besides, I’m not far from where I’m going.
The trip to the Beggar’s Market took twenty minutes. Every heavy step sent a flood of pain through her side. She had considered stopping until the pills took effect but fear drove her forward. The line at the Beggar’s Market was short. It was a Tuesday and the market had already been open for many hours. Kat stared at the yellow-shirts at the gate as she clutched her satchel. They’ll search it.
She ducked around an alley corner and withdrew a pistol. Her hands moved automatically, depressing the magazine release. A rigid pack dropped from the magazine well into her waiting hand. A cursory inspection told her the remaining plastisteel pack amounted to at least a dozen more shots. Each trigger pull would shave off the topmost portion of the polymer/steel fiber pack and fire it down the barrels. As the fibers raced for the pistol’s opening, the mini-barrels would divide the charge into nine thin, needle-like flechette rounds that would shred any soft target. She reinserted the magazine and thumbed the safety before tucking the gun into her waistband near the small of her back. She repeated the process with the second pistol, this time concealing the weapon down the front of her pants. She pulled her oversized shirt over both and allowed it to hang limply. Taking a fortifying breath, she moved to the end of the line at the market’s entrance.
Before she knew it, Kat was at the front. A yellow-shirt gestured her forward and she stepped to him while holding out her satchel. She flipped the top open and quietly said, “There’s two large in there for you if that’s all you see and you let me in.”
The man leaned over her bag and reached inside to extract both coins. He regarded her with cold eyes. “What’s your purpose?”
“I’m just hawking it,” Kat lied. “I have another one at home and a vendor inside the market said he’d give me six large for it.” She tried to smile flirtatiously and implored him with soft, brown eyes. “Please? I need the money.”
“There’s blood all over it,” the guard commented.
“There’s blood all over Shantytown,” Kat retorted.
“How about I hold on to it and you bring the vendor here?” he suggested.
Kat forced herself to consider the offer for several seconds. “You promise you won’t take more than the two large?”
“Sure,” the guard replied with a smile. The man pocketed the coins and withdrew the knife. He admired it for an instant before wiping the blade on a soiled rag from his back pocket. Once clean, he tucked the knife between his belt and his trousers. He threw a casual thumb behind him and looked past Kat for the next person in line.
She stepped quickly around the guard and moved straight to Reynolds’ clinic.
“Kat!” the doctor exclaimed excitedly when she saw her but her expression quickly turned to concern. “What are you doing at the market? Shouldn’t you be working?”
Kat ignored the questions and entered the shack from the side door. She looked fearfully out the service window and then gestured for Reynolds to follow her to the back room.
“What’s this about?” Reynolds asked nervously once they were behind the curtained doorway.
“Maggie, I’m in trouble and I need help.” Kat moved painfully to Reynolds’ bed and eased herself to the mattress. “I’m in danger and if you help me, you’ll be in danger too. I need someplace safe to stay until I can figure out what I’m going to do.” She looked at the older woman and said, “You don’t have to help me. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Reynolds moved to sit beside Kat and patted her knee. “I’m done being scared, Kat. Tell me what’s wrong.”
Kat inhaled slowly, trying to think where to be
gin. “When I came home last night, there were three people in my alley. They’d killed Rat. Shot him with a pistol. Their leader was holding my carton… you know, the one I used to bring you herbs. He was saying strange stuff, like he knew about my trips out to the desert.”
“Did they hurt you, Kat?” Reynolds asked. “I can’t help but notice you’re favoring your left side.” She moved her hands to the bottom of Kat’s shirt.
Kat brushed the doctor’s help away. “They didn’t hurt me. I bruised some ribs at the mine but I’m fine. The man said that something called the Society was searching for me. That they wanted me dead.” She shivered at the memory. “Just when I thought they were going to shoot me, the crazy woman who lived across the trash wall distracted them.” She hugged herself as she recounted, “I had a knife in my satchel. I got it from someone who tried to mug me a couple days ago… I killed them, the people in my alley.” Kat hung her head. “I killed all three of them.”
Reynolds leaned back, doubt creeping into her expression. “Honey, are you sure? You killed three, armed men with just a knife?”
Kat closed her eyes and nodded. “I stabbed one. It was awful…”
Reynolds wrapped an arm around her friend and rubbed her back. “It’s okay, dear. You had to defend yourself.”
“Then,” Kat continued, “I… disarmed the other two and shot them both. One of them wasn’t quite dead and I shot him again.” Tears began to roll down her face and she shuddered. “He was still breathing, looking at me and I just... finished him.”
Reynolds hugged her gently and soothed, “It’s okay, Kat. I’m sure you did what you had to do, sweetie.” She rocked Kat slightly in comfort for several moments until her friend’s sobs faded. Finally, she withdrew her embrace and asked hesitantly, “Are you sure things really happened that way?”
Kat shifted her weight and pulled both guns from her waistband.
Reynolds’ mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. The doctor’s horror knocked Kat out of her daze and she quickly placed both weapons into her bag.
Reynolds inhaled sharply and her hand flew to her mouth. “Kat, this morning three people were looking for you. They were asking vendors if they’d seen you. They even had a picture of you on a handheld with the name Kallista Pendleton under it.”
Kat shot to her feet but winced at the pain that caught her. “Did you say anything?” She rushed to the curtain, pulling it slightly askew to look outside.
“No!” Reynolds replied. “I told them I’ve never seen you and that they were blocking my service window. Then I came back here and ground herbs until they were gone.” She stood from the bed and walked to Kat. “But Stew said they had been asking other vendors before me. They might even still be in the market.”
“What did they look like?”
“Strange clothes,” Reynolds recalled. “Two of them had on black and grey uniforms, kind of like corporate security. The third was a woman. She wore citizen’s clothes, a red top with black pants. She was creepy and clearly in charge. None of them seemed to be carrying guns but I guess they could’ve been hiding them.”
Kat let the curtain drop back into place and turned to Reynolds. “I don’t have anywhere else to go, Maggie. Can I stay here? At least until I’ve figured out my next move?”
Reynolds grasped Kat’s hand firmly. “You’re welcome to stay here. I promised I would help and that’s what I’m going to do.” She pursed her lips for a moment. “We’re going to have to bribe a guard to let you stay the night though.”
Kat looked to her wristwrap. Thank God I didn’t let them put a chip in me, she thought gratefully. “All I have left is thirty credits. I don’t get paid again until Friday and that’s if I could somehow even get to the mine.” Her heart lurched when she remembered Sadler. He doesn’t even know where I am! Will he ever? A new bout of tears made her brown eyes shimmer. It was becoming clear she was going to have to run. Run from the life she was building. Run from Sadler and Maggie.
“I’ve got coins stashed away,” Reynolds told her. “We’ll have enough and I’ll be sure to go through Stew. He’ll cut me a deal,” she wagered. “You wait here. Don’t leave this room.”
A minute later, Reynolds returned with clean rags and a bucket of water. “Clean yourself up, Kat. You’ve got dried blood on your face and you smell like you’ve slept in a sewer.” She went to a shelf and retrieved a small knife and her bar of soap to scrape off a handful of shavings. “I’ll take a look at those ribs later. Let me go find Stew and see how much your staying will cost us.”
Kat gave herself a sponge bath in Reynolds’ absence. Afterwards, she scrubbed at the worst stains on her pants before painfully lifting her shirt over her head and dunking it into the soapy water in the bucket. She wringed it out as best she could before pulling it back on. Her side ached cruelly but the pain wasn’t as sharp as before. She lifted her feet off the floor and gently laid back on the mattress. It felt like a bed of clouds. I’ll rest until Maggie gets back. Then, I’ll give her my wristwrap and we can figure out my options. She finally felt a little safer. She inhaled as deeply as she could and found the pain wasn’t nearly as bad now that she was prone. A slow, long exhale calmed her further and her eyelids began to droop.
Chapter 30
There were voices coming from the main room of the clinic. A woman’s soprano carried above the rest and it didn’t belong to Doctor Reynolds. The petite stranger stood at the service counter. High cheekbones, a straight nose and startling, blue eyes made her face elegant. Her red blouse had a black stripe running stylishly down its right side. Two men flanked her. Both wore stony expressions that complimented their grey and black shirts, which, in turn, matched their pants and boots.
In the attractive woman’s hands was a handheld, the screen facing Maggie Reynolds. Kat’s smiling image graced the display although the name “Kallista Pendleton” appeared underneath the picture. Kat couldn’t remember such a picture ever being taken. “Have you seen this person?” the red-topped woman asked, her eyes roving the clinic as she spoke.
Reynolds looked at the picture thoughtfully before answering, “No. Never been a patient of mine.”
“Are you certain?” the woman pressed with an unbalanced smile. Her voice sounded skeptical.
Reynolds leaned against her counter. “Yeah, I’m sure.” She looked past the threesome irritably. “Now, do you mind? You’re blocking my window.”
The woman didn’t move, staring coolly at Reynolds with mesmerizing, blue eyes.
Reynolds snorted angrily and pushed off the counter. She muttered curses as she stalked her way to the back room. The petite woman barked a short, disturbing laugh at the doctor’s retreat.
“Well, Lolz?” asked one of the agents.
The woman waved a beckoning hand and walked a short distance from the service window before stopping to look back at the clinic. Reynolds had not yet emerged from her bedroom. “She knows her,” Lolz stated confidently. “In fact, the good doctor has been thinking about our friend very recently.” She cocked her head slightly and the lopsided grin reappeared. “Within the last forty-eight hours for sure.”
“That’s it?” the other agent asked, clearly annoyed. “I thought you could get more than that.”
The grin dropped in an instant and the woman regarded her companion icily. “It doesn’t work like that. If I don’t want the target to realize I’ve linked with her, I have to be…” She searched pensively for the correct word. “Circumspect, discreet… sagacious, if you will.” Her smile had crept onto her lips again.
The man wiped sweat from his forehead and cursed at the sun. “Is this good enough? Do we need to keep looking?”
Lolz giggled as she nodded once firmly. “Oh, this will do,” she judged. “We’ll come back tonight, when they’ve huddled around their fire barrels and take the doctor. Once I get her back to the convention hall, I won’t need to be as gentle.”
“Thank God,” the agent said in relief. “We’ve questioned close
to fifty, separate people in this heat. Why couldn’t you search the groups?”
The woman turned and paced away from the clinic. Her trailing words held no compassion, no emotion of any kind. “I can only link to one at a time.”
Kat’s fading view of the woman walking away in the sunlight was replaced by the relative darkness of the clinic’s back room as her eyelids fluttered open. Taking a moment to rub her eyes, she groggily scanned the room. In the dim light, she could see a handwritten note pinned to the curtain over the doorway. From beyond the fabric barrier, distant conversations mixed with laughter drifted to her ears.
She rolled smoothly off the bed and stood to stretch. Her ribs felt much better. Amazing what sleeping in a bed will do for the body, she told herself as she walked to the curtain for the note. It was difficult to read in the darkened room.
Kat,
You were asleep by the time I returned. Your body needs rest so I didn’t wake you. You can spend the night here. I took care of it. There is some food and water on the desktop. Do NOT leave the bedroom. It’s important that the market guards don’t know you’re here. I’ll sleep on my chair tonight so go back to bed after you’ve eaten. Sleep well.
Maggie
Kat pulled the curtain slightly to the side to allow more light to enter the room. None did and she realized the sun had set some time ago. I slept through the entire afternoon. It’s already night. Her heart raced at the implications. They’re coming for Maggie!
The distant banter beyond the clinic turned into yelling. A single gunshot echoed in the market, followed by screams.
Adrenalin coursed through Kat’s body as she spun in Reynolds’ bedroom and raced to her satchel hanging on the back of the desk chair. She pulled out a Jamison, thumbed off the safety in effortless motion and ran through the curtain.
She hit the side door of the clinic at nearly full speed. It burst open and she turned to race down the cul-de-sac. The market appeared deserted. Distant glows from fires illuminated the streets but the rows of closed shops gave Kat no hint as to where to search for her friend.
